


a bounce in my stride; a skip in my step

by Princex_N



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Dorks in Love, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Hopping, Love Confessions, M/M, Music, Stimming
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-01
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-14 07:37:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16488410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princex_N/pseuds/Princex_N
Summary: Taako had known from the get-go that his boyfriend was a Grade-A Dork.For some reason, that still hadn't prepared him for the hopping.





	a bounce in my stride; a skip in my step

Taako had known from the get-go that his boyfriend was a Grade-A Dork. 

For some reason, that still hadn't prepared him for the hopping. 

The first time it had happened, Taako had barely even noticed. He had been a little drunk, his umbrella had just attacked the guy he was on a date with, who was leaving via magic portal, so the fact that Kravitz bounced on his toes before going on his way hadn't really pinged Taako's "Things Worth Paying Attention To" radar. 

But now? They're walking back to Taako's room after dinner, and all of a sudden Kravitz, who's already head and shoulders above Taako, is launching himself a good foot in the air. Taako would be hard-pressed to  _not_ notice. 

"Gods," Taako grinds out, one hand pressed dramatically to his chest, because holy  _fuck_ that startled him. 

Kravitz doesn't appear to notice the theatrics at all; he's got his head craned at an odd angle and his fingers are tapping out a beat on his thigh, and when he  _does_ turn to Taako, it's to ask, "Who  _is_ that?" with an adorable goofy smile on his face. 

Taako has to take a moment to compose himself to keep from blushing at how cute this man is, and then he refocuses and asks, "Who is what?" 

"That!" Kravitz points vaguely at the air, and Taako has to shut his eyes and strain his ears in order to  _barely_ hear the violin music coming from down the hall. 

He opens his eyes and says, "That's just Johan." 

Kravitz visibly pulls his gaze away from Taako's twitching ears to look down the hall and repeat the name to himself almost reverently. 

"Yeah, I can introduce you one day," Taako says - Kravitz and Johan probably  _would_ get alone - and then he has to dodge out of the way as Kravitz bounces a few more times in reckless excitement. "But, some other day?" he adds, before the reaper can get  _too_ excited. "If you wanted to continue on our date?" 

"Right, yes, of course," Kravitz says, and hops a few more times before reeling it all in. He smiles a bit sheepishly, "Sorry, I get excited sometimes." 

Taako smiles back. "Don't even worry about it," he says. 

 _"It was fucking adorable_ ," he does not. 

* * *

A part of him wonders if he thinks it's weird - the whole hopping thing. But he thinks about it, and thinks that Kravitz hops like Taako claps, and that it's too cute to be a bad thing anyway. 

And ultimately, Taako thinks that he kind of wants to see it more. 

So, when Kravitz brings Taako a scarf that he'd found in some little store, part of him wants very badly to brush it off casually and refuse to acknowledge his own feelings about it, because that's  _safe_ and  _easy_. 

But Kravitz is standing on his toes, like he's just  _waiting_ for the signal to go off, and god  _dammit_. 

Taako slings on the scarf despite the fact that he's already wearing one, smiles, and says, "I love it." 

Kravitz grins, pleased, and bounces in place. "Good," he says, faux-casual. "I'm glad." 

Taako bites back the urge to grin back, and then he's yelling, "Holy Fuck," himself because the scarf has got fucking  _pockets_ , which automatically makes it the best scarf that Taako owns. 

Kravitz tries to hide the fact that he grins like he knew this, and bounces a few extra times on his toes, but Taako definitely sees it all anyway. 

* * *

Taako doesn't actually  _mean_ to say it; it's just something that slipped out all on its own and then left Taako to deal with the repercussions. 

They hadn't even been fucking  _doing_ anything. They'd just been sitting on the couch together and watching some fucking TV show, when a song came on that Kravitz likes. 

And Taako just really loves to watch Kravitz listen to music. He can't put his finger on  _why_ , but it's just something in the way that Kravitz shuts his eyes and throws his whole body into whatever song is on, and Taako is watching him and trying not to think too hard on how absolutely fucked he is if his chest is getting warm just watching this mindless little moment, and the words just spill out of him.

"I love you." 

Kravitz goes stiff as a board beside him and Taako's mind goes blank with panic. Fuck shit damn, he had  _not_ meant to say that aloud and now he's fucked it up. This is exactly why Taako doesn't  _do_ emotional connections; because he will always inevitably fuck it up tremendously for himself. 

"Say that again," Kravitz asks, voice strained and sliding back into that stupid fucking fake accent of his. 

"Nothing, nothing at all! I didn't say a goddamn thing," Taako spits out; damage control. He's got to get the fuck  _out of here_ as soon as physically goddamn possible. 

"No wait," Kravitz protests, standing up and snagging one of Taako's hands to keep him from fleeing. "What did you say?" 

God. Fucking. Dammit. 

"I said I love you alright?" Taako mutters mulishly, shifting his weight anxiously and waiting for the inevitable. He can't quite make himself look directly at Kravitz. 

Kravitz, who fucking  _squeaks_ , and then buries his face in his free hand to hide the fact that he's started going a bit transparent around the edges. 

"What are you doing?" Taako can't stop himself from asking, curious despite himself, because Kravitz looks like he's  _vibrating_ , which hadn't exactly been what Taako had been expecting. 

(He doesn't know why he still bothers expecting things from Kravitz in the first place, since the reaper manages to defy all expectations at every turn.) 

"Nothing! I'm just," Kravitz breaks off to peek at Taako, and then grabs his other hand and smiles softly. "I'm happy." He gives a couple of slight hops, and then continues in earnest. "I love you too." 

Taako's not much of a hopper himself, but he's starting to see why Kravitz does it so often. 

* * *

It's the first time that Kravitz and Angus are meeting, and for some reason that feels like a big deal. 

Taako feels vaguely like he's introducing his boyfriend to his son, and is waiting for some kind of verdict, but that would be ridiculous. Angus is definitely  _not_ Taako's kid. 

(Except for all the ways that he kind of  _is_.) 

Kravitz is possibly even more anxious than Taako is (probably because he's not the one in denial about Angus' position as Taako's kid), and he stands twisting his dreads around his fingers and trying his best not to look as intimidated as he does. 

Angus, usually quite polite when it comes to meeting new people, seems uninterested in alleviating this tension. 

Taako thinks he might die before this encounter is over. 

"Alright,  _mijo_ ," he says before this can go on any longer. "If you don't want to talk, you can always go back and read your Kid Cleveland books." 

Angus' unimpressed expression gets turned on Taako for that little comment. "It's Caleb Cleveland." His tone gives away the fact that he knows that Taako won't be able to remember that little piece of information past this conversation. 

Kravitz, on the other hand, has perked up significantly. 

"You read the Caleb Cleveland books?" he asks, tone hesitantly edging towards something excited. 

Angus, who doesn't yet know the significance of Kravitz bouncing lightly on his toes, seems skeptical. "It  _is_ a children's series, sir," he says, somewhat defensively (which is... probably fair, considering the mild to moderate bullying Taako and the others have put him through in the past). 

"They're not the newest books," Kravitz argues, seemingly a little flustered at having been caught out reading books just a _little_ out of his age range. "And I have a lot of time on my hands. I'm not always at work, you know. The third one is my favorite, just for the twist at the end." 

Angus is beginning to loosen up (thank gods), rocking back on his heels and wiggling his fingers a little. "That one's okay," he admits, "but I think that the clues could have been a little less blatant. The fifth was much more subtle." 

Taako gets the feeling that it's going to be a while longer before they get started on their date, but for some reason he finds he doesn't mind. 

* * *

Taako is  _supposed_ to be on his way out, and he's been ready to go for the past couple of minutes, but. 

But. 

Kravitz is standing in the living room, hopping around and swinging his arms a bit, humming to himself while he waits, and it's just?? Cute. 

Taako doesn't want to interrupt it, so he doesn't. Their plans aren't time sensitive, Taako has the temporal freedom to lurk in the shadows a bit and watch his boyfriend wander around in the other room and stim. 

It's gay and cheesy as hell, but no one else has to know about it, and so Taako ignores it, because  _look_. He loves his stupid dork of a boyfriend with all his fucking heart. 

And maybe it's still a little early in their relationship, and probably Taako will never be able to be the one to ask, but in this moment right now? Taako knows without a doubt what his answer will be when Kravitz asks him to marry him. 

Feeling the way he does right now, he hopes the question gets asked soon.

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://www.princex-n.tumblr.com)


End file.
